by Chitra Weerarathne: The Island
J. S. Tissainayagam yesterday, through his lawyer, filed an appeal in the Court of Appeal seeking to set aside the conviction and the sentence imposed on him, by the Colombo High Court on August 31, 2009.
Tissainayagam was convicted of blaming the Government of Sri Lanka, of inciting racial hatred and of having monetary dealings with the LTTE, which was a terrorist organisation, prohibited by the State. A sentence of five years rigorous imprisonment was imposed for the first count, a sentence of another five years RI for the second count and a sentence of 10 years RI for the third count. Tissainayagam was indicted under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, for articles published in the ‘North East Herald’, in 2006. The articles were said to have brought disrepute to the State of Sri Lanka and invited racial hatred.
The trial against Tissainayagam was heard by Colombo High Court Judge, Deepali Wijesundera, who convicted Tissainayagam and imposed a sentence of 20 years RI.